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The CPI(M) today alleged that the petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A are meant to create another divisive issue in tune with the Hindutva politics of the BJP and the RSS.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution empowers Jammu and Kashmir's legislature to define permanent residents of the state and provide them special rights and privileges.

Prakash Karat, former general secretary of the CPI(M), alleged that the petitions, which are being heard by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, are aimed at nullifying the "special status given to Jammu and Kashmir".

He made the remarks in an editorial in the latest edition of party organ 'Peoples' Democracy'.

"The petition challenging Article 35A of the Constitution before the Supreme Court is meant to open up another divisive issue in tune with the Hindutva politics espoused by the BJP and the RSS. It has been the long cherished aim of the Hindutva forces to get people from outside Jammu and Kashmir to settle in the state and change its demographic character," Karat alleged.